Poland debates ban on abortion on grounds of rape or incest

Polish MPs began debating a constitutional amendment today that would further tighten the country’s abortion laws to eliminate rape or incest as grounds for terminating a pregnancy.

The motion was brought by the ultra-conservative League of Polish Families, a junior coalition partner in the government of the prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Its chances of passing were seen as slim given that it takes a two-thirds majority - or 307 votes in the 460-seat lower house of parliament - to change the constitution. Opposition leftwing and socially liberal MPs together have the strength to block the change.

However, the fact that the motion is up for debate underlines the sharp conservative turn that the country has taken since a leftwing government and president were swept from power last autumn by Law and Justice, the socially conservative party of the prime minister and his identical twin brother, president Lech Kaczynski.

Law and Justice leads a three-party coalition that includes the farm-based Self-Defence party. Currently, abortion is allowed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape or incest; when the foetus is severely damaged; or when the mother’s life or health is at risk.

The motion’s “first reading” began in parliament yesterday. However, a final vote to amend the constitution would not come until January at the earliest, parliament speaker Marek Jurek said.